@swedishbear I think they are both really cute! I’m not sure they aren’t working as well together as might be expected . Can you put them beside each other in the same image so I can try to see what is bothering you about them?

The main difference I see is how you draw fur. You used black lines on the dog but you didn’t do the same on the cat. Perhaps if you draw a few hairs on the white and orange parts of the cat that will make the two more uniform. I hope this helps

I think they are adorable. I agree with the fur comments above. You could also try just making the cats eyes the same as the dog's then they may then look like they belong in the same world-just and idea.....

Hey! @swedishbear i think these characters look good! I agree with everyone, the main difference is the way you draw the fur. You could maybe make him look scruffier with his attitude? make him sit a certain way the cat wouldn't , make him more asymetrical, like one eye bigger than the other, and keep the fur technique for both! hope that helps!

To add to what people here have said, the cat has a few black patches with no hatching, whereas the doggo has no black spots. The lack of hatching in the cat's spots and stripes flattens him out a wee bit, whereas your dog appears very round and floofy. I think if you add some lighter hatching to the cats darker areas you will see things come together.

I agree with @Nyrryl-Cadiz about adding some fur texture lines to the black areas of your cat.

I'm also noticing that if you look around at the edges of the dog, it's fairly dark all the way around & the shading comes into the body a bit, but the cat isn't dark all the way around the edges, and the shading is much lighter (except for underneath the body / behind the legs). So maybe you could try lightening it up on the dog, or darkening the edges and shading on the cat--or go for compromise and moderation & do a little bit of both.

I think the character's eyes look good together. One thing I'm seeing about them though is the dog's pupils look like they have a rougher edge, and the cat's pupils are have a much smoother edge. Making them more similar to each other may help give a consistent feel.

It looks like this will be a very cute project! I hope you share more of it with us!

Both characters are great and I agree with the comments about the fur rendering but there is another difference and that is that the cat is more stylized with very distinct, sharp angles and geometry while the forms of the dog are all soft and flowing and not geometric at all except for the stylized nose.

Compare the tails of the cat and dog as just one example. Not only is the cat tail very stylized in shape but the striping just adds to that designed look. The dog tail has much less precision. The two heads also contrast in the same way with the cat head being mostly sharp triangles and again very strong color patterns. The shape of the dog's head is soft everywhere and is rendered in a single color. The bodies show the same contrast in approach as well.

I suspect that this is what you are seeing when you say that they don't live in the same universe. It might pay off to try bringing some sharper angles into the dog and to play with some geometric patterns in the coat.